大象传媒

A few hours ago we passed the May full moon. Most of us barely notice these things, but life in many traditional cultures is shaped by the phases of the moon, and the full moon in particular is seen as a time of heightened energy and possibilities. The events of the Buddha鈥檚 life, for example, are connected to the lunar cycle and the May full moon marks is the time he gained Enlightenment. Buddhists around the world are celebrating that in the festival of Wesak.
The full moon also symbolises what the Buddha attained, hard though that is to express. Buddhists say that he became complete, whole, and in some way beyond the vicissitudes of ordinary life. In traditional language, he woke up to the true nature of existence.
But what relevance does an ancient sage have to the struggles of the real world in the Twenty-first Century, where conflict and suffering are never far from the headlines, and this week arrived on our streets in the most brutal manner? Recent events in Burma show that Buddhists themselves are hardly exempt from a share of responsibility for the world鈥檚 problems...